The Ghost's Announcement
Sam awoke the next day to the smell of bacon down the hall. Tracy and Luke were still asleep in their own makeshift beds on the far side of the room. Alex's light blue hoodie was unceremoniously wadded up on his bed which he'd been polite enough to remake. Courtney's blanket was strewn away from her pillow which made Sam think she left to find the kitchen already. None of them had bothered with food the day before. They'd all been fairly rattled so it made sense.
Sam pulled his boots back on, which he took off before he went to sleep. None of them had been crazy enough to sleep in their shoes and ruin the old blankets. He carefully made his bed and Courtney’s before he picked Alex's hoodie up and brought it with him to the kitchen where he was fairly surprised to see Alex making bacon, toast, and omelettes. Courtney was sitting on one of the chairs from the dining room down the hall and was eating at the old granite kitchen island which someone, Sam assumed it was Alex, had bothered to clean along with the rest of the kitchen and the dishes.
Sam watched Alex cook for a second, a little surprised. He didn't think Alex could cook, after all Tracy had been the only one to mention anything about being able to cook last night and her talents leaned more towards baking not cooking. Alex plucked a piece of bacon off the nearby plate full of it and took a bite. His dark hair looked a little disheveled and he had light purple crescents under his eyes that stood out against his pale skin leading Sam to assume that he hadn't slept muh last night.
“Oh hey you brought my hoodie,” Alex had finally looked up from the stove. He walked over, grabbed it, and pulled it on over his light grey t-shirt, “Sorry I left it behind. I took it off cause it was rather warm when I got up and I kinda forgot it. I raided the fridge though.” Sam was surprised at how chipper Alex seemed to be considering his stubborn silence yesterday.
“He found food and orange juice too,” Courtney smiled while she made Sam a plate and sat it down on the placemat next to her.
“Uh, thanks,” Sam was still trying to wake up as Alex placed a glass of orange juice next to the plate and handed him a fork. Alex was piling the last of the omelettes that he was making onto a plate and sat it on the counter. He'd already turned off the stove when he had finished cooking. Sam watched him set the plate down on the counter before rolling his sleeves up and heading to the sink to wash the pans he'd used.
“I'll do the dishes after everyone eats. Why don't you come sit down and eat with us?” Sam offered. He had to admire Alex's work ethic and his cleaning skills. The kitchen was spotless as were the dishes. Not to mention the food tasted amazing.
“It's fine, I like cleaning," Alex shrugged. He thought it was nice that Sam offered to help but he could handle a little extra cleaning. Besides, they all needed to eat and he could wait a few extra minutes.
“Where'd you learn to cook?” Courtney asked, apparently agreeing with Sam on the food.
“My mom taught me,” Alex stated rather proudly. He'd come to join them after he'd finished washing the pans he used. “She taught me how to cook and bake. It's actually fun if you have the time and patience,”Alex smiled, making himself a plate while the other two wandered in half-asleep.
“How long have y'all been up?” Tracy yawned slouching into the chair next to Courtney's.
“About an hour,” Courtney reached Tracy and Luke a couple of plates.
“Since the sun came up,” Alex admitted, his voice quiet.
“Not long for me,” Sam shrugged. It didn't surprise him that Alex was an early riser; not with how chipper he was. Alex reminded Sam of most morning people. They didn't need coffee to be wide awake, even if they'd just got up.
“This is good,” Tracy mumbled around bits of omelette, “Who cooked?”
“I did and thanks,” Alex whispered from the far end of the table with a smile present on his face.
They all sat there eating, Luke remained silent staring at the ceiling in disdain. Courtney was telling Tracy a funny story about her cat. Something about it climbing on the furniture and getting itself stuck in her mom's favorite vase. After Tracy told her own story about her puppy who was always off chasing butterflies or squirrels.
Alex was listening quietly while Sam added a few comments here and there. Eventually Sam took over telling stories about the strays that roamed near his house. He didn't have funny stories but they were heartwarming. Sam had helped most of them find nice homes and he still took care of the ones who didn't have homes.
Vivian appeared out of nowhere while Sam and Alex were doing the dishes. Courtney was cleaning the counter off while Luke and Tracy were still trying to wake up fully. “Hello young ones,” Vivian's voice echoed throughout the large kitchen. Alex froze, plate and towel in hand. He'd been sitting on the counter drying them as Sam finished washing them and passed them along.
Sam turned around while the other three went to run. The door slammed shut right as Courtney reached for it. Now they were trapped. Alex was completely calm and Sam had gone quiet. Meanwhile Courtney and Tracy moved to the far corner and Luke had frozen in the middle of the room, his face pale. Tracy was pretty sure Luke had grown tired of being tossed around by the ghost.
“Don't worry I mean you no harm,” Vivian announced, “In fact I came to tell you that I'm willing to let you go if, and only if, you solve my murder.”
“You mean someone killed you?” Alex didn't get why someone would kill such a nice lady. Sure she'd creeped him out last night but it was dark and everyone else was asleep. During the day she wasn't so bad.
“Unfortunately so my dear,” Vivian waltzed over to the kitchen island where she ran a transparent finger along the counter checking for dust, “You cleaned up. How nice.”
“How are we supposed to do that without any research materials?” Courtney pointed out the obvious flaw in Vivian's plan.
“You will be provided with anything you need so long as you don't dally. You have until the end of the month. You are however not allowed to contact your parents or friends. If you fail to uphold my rules there will be consequences. I expect results,” Vivian replied coolly. A calendar appeared on the wall two days already ticked off with red Xs.
“What kind of consequences?” Luke finally spoke. He'd been the quiet one this morning surprisingly. Vivian just looked through him for a moment.
“Don't do anything wrong and you won't find out,” she dismissed him with a wave of her hand. Luke moved away from the ghost as she began walking the floor. “Do we have a deal?” She asked after a moment of silence.
Everyone looked at each other for a moment before Courtney spoke up, answering for them all, “We do.” Once she had an answer Vivian disappeared, fading away slowly in the faded kitchen lighting.